N.S.A World Series
 

Is anyone going as a team,umpire, or just see the games? I'll be in Indiana.

I worked several NSA nationals and one super world series. I will never go back again. We were treated very poorly and were given rooms in the worst hotels. It really depends on who your UIC is. I had several that would never get their fat a** out of their chair. We were working games in heat in the upper 90's and never saw anyone who would bring cold water. From my experience, we were really taken for granted. Well, you can take for granted that I'll never go again!!

I will echo the comments of NSABlue. I worked the A Nationals in Rock Hill, SC in 2005 and was treated very poorly by the first UIC we had at our complex. The heat index hit 119 on the first or second day and they worked us nearly to death. They scheduled 10 umpires at our 4-field complex so we were usually working three games straight without a break. For $25.00 a game it was not worth it.

When it came to picking the umpires to work the final weekend, I was not chosen. When I asked what the criteria was for continuing on, I was told that the UIC's picked those umpires who has handled controversy well that week. Since I didn't miss a call or have any controversy in the 12 games I worked, I really felt slighted.

I stopped working NSA after that and did not even rejoin this year when the B Nationals are in my back yard in Chesterfield, VA. Every umpire should experience an NSA world series once, just to see how umpires are NOT to be treated.

Are "southern" Maryland or Chesterfield, VA areas that have moved out of NSA (to USSSA, PONY, ASA)?

Yes, Our Maryland group is now with USSSA.

My backyard
 

The 'B' in Indiana is in my backyard. My home is five minutes from the Portage site. My work is 4 minutes from the Hidden Lake site and 7 minutes from the Crown Point site. Its neat finally having one near home, though, I did do Shaumburg back a few years ago and that is only an hour or so away.

Not sure which site you will get, but if you can beg for a location, take Hidden Lake. There is a ton of shade trees on the front fields and if the umpires park in the back, its a nice place to hang out between games. However, if you do get that location, pray you are on the front fields and not the back. The back four fields are a pit. No breeze, no shade.

I have been to more WS than I care to admit, and I do agree with the above posters to some extent. If you get the right site and the right crew to work with, it can be a ton of fun. If you get the wrong site and an bad crew, it can really suck. There are some UIC's that go above and beyond for the umpires, and then there are some that do infact, hide in the shade or air conditioning. I would say that of the years that I attended, its been about a fifty/fifty chance of getting a great crew and location. I can't speak from experience, but I imagine you run into the same thing working other associations.

And of course, the weather makes or breaks some years. It shouldn't be too bad in Indiana, but it can get pretty hot here. However, it won't get nearly as brutual as S.C. and Chatanooga. I am still waiting for our first WS in Minnesota or upper Michigan.:)

As for my attendance, I am to the point now where I am not going to take off work, just to go work. Seems silly. If I am going to take vacation, I am going to lounge around the house, take a relaxing vacation, or go golfing.

If the NSA "world series" is anything like the Western World Series, I wouldn't put it on my resume.

This year's Western Worlds were in Stockton, CA. Eight age group divisions and NO 18s (A or B) with just over 50 teams. TOTAL. At least last year they had almost as many teams in all divisions as we had in the 16A nationals.

I've heard there is a nickname for teams playing NSA over ASA: hardware hunters.

Hope that's not true for umpires.

wow
 

NSA isn't big out west. I don't know about your area, but the same teams play both associations out here in Indiana, harware hunters is a pretty lame choice of words.

Im not going to let anyone rain on my parade. I feel privelged to be able to work the World Series. It doesnt matter ASA,NSA,Pony, or Usssa. Im sure every umpire has there opinion about each and why they will or never go back.If all these teams play in both/all leagues/associations it seems as if they are the hardware hunters.At the end of the day they will all call us blue no matter what association you work for. See u in Indiana!!

Yes, harware hunters IS a pretty lame choice of words.

But...I said hardware hunters.

If NSA is so groovy, then...oh, never mind.

My choice is and always will be with ASA, the National Governing Body of Softball, the only youth softball organization affiliated with the Olympics, ad infinitum. You can go Cadillac or Yugo. I prefer Cadillac.

Which side of the bay is your "southern Maryland"?

The "Southern Maryland" I live in is on the west side of the bay. I live in Charles County (Waldorf). Most of the work my USSSA group does is in Anne Arundle county, south of Baltimore. I have been known to work on the Eastern Shore on occasion. I have a daughter in School on the eastern shore. I love the area.

I, like IN Blu live in NorthWest Indiana and have been umping for many years. That being said; I was out at the Crown Point complex yesterday watching my 19 yr old daughter umping. I had a chance to talk with alot of umps from IL, MS, MI, and the UIC was from St. Louis. All said that they had great rooms and were being treated very well. The UIC was in a golf cart buzzing aroud the 7 field complex takeing umps to their fields. Parents were thrilled with the opening ceremonies at the local Minor League baseball stadium and the pin swaping and beach party on the shores of Lake Michigan. Our local buisness community have embraced this week long event and hope to have it back in the future. I guess bottom line is you can't bash all of NSA for your personal experience. In our area ASA is only slow pitch. NSA rules fastpitch.

I will post my N.S.A World Series experience on Sunday.

I second with Bear! Where did U stay? My hotel was in Portage Indiana and had games in Michigan City.

$25 a game ???
"coolie wages"--why would you even go there ??
sorry "world series" if they expect the best to work for that.

Sorry for the late post. First I would like to say I had a great time. My uncle and I stayed at Holiday Express in Portage Indiana. It was about a 23 min drive to the Fields. Which I think we were very lucky because a few guys had about a 50 minute drive to our site in Michigan City. Hotel rooms were actually $119 per night so they wernt cheap.Thanks N.S.A! Typicall hotel breakfast all your breads and cold cereal, juices. This hotel actually had biscuits n gravy , eggs and sausage. Which I thought was different but in a good way. But enough about the great hotel. We arrived sunday afternoon just in time for the umpire meeting. They told us what was expected of us and stressed who has the right to the orange bag. It seems as if coaches and some umpires had lot of questions about this. They also said the shiney hairclips were illegal. Those have become very popular this year.And also the sliding pant must be worn the proper way. Meaning not rolled down because of the neon yellow had that looks like a ball. We met our U.I.C for the week and he was great. Thanks Mike.O ! They had pizza and salad waiting for us after the 40 minute meeting. We worked in 3-man crews per day and rotated umps and fields everyday so we could all work with different people. Mike did a great job of whizzing us around in the golf cart from fields,to our cars,and to the pressboxes which the umpires used to rest and change clothes in. We had plenty of water and snacks handy. Monday and Tuesday was a breeze. Those 2 days all the games were pool play. On Wednsday we ran into trouble.We had good weather until about my 3 o clock game. Thats when we saw the lighting. So we started a 30 minute delay. In the pressbox the U.I.C had a laptop to update scores and checked the weather. We had a bad storm that lasted about 4 1/2 hrs. After the storm passed the infields were muddy. The grounds crew got 6 of the 7 fields playable. One at a time they finished them. They did an excellent job !! My 3pm game didnt start until about 830pm. I ended up losing 2 games because of the delay and never made them up. It rained Thursday morning and all games were delayed until noon. I did 3 games that day. Again I lost a couple of games. Some guys were disappointed because they could have made more money at home. They were paying $27.50 per game. And they paid us by check at the end of the week. Which kinda sucked because I only took $100 cash with me thinking we were going to get paid cash at the end of the day. And yep I didnt bring any debit or credit cards with me. But I made it through.We got 1/2 off at the concession stand as well. The intensity picked up in the middle of the week. As some teams were facing elimination. There was only one real problem that I heard about and that was a fan was upset with a call that the ump made and told him he would meet him in the parking lot. Im not sure what happened after this but our U.I.C told us if we ever get threatend or feel we are in danger to stop the game and contact him right away, With no regard to the clock. You could tell he had our back 100%. He also told us if we had a question about a rule to ask him. He told us he back our call even if we are right or wrong, but also explain the rule. Which I felt was really cool. Overall I did 14 games as we left Friday afternoon back to Ohio. Overall I had a great time and would encourage any umpire who did not have a great time in the past to try it again. The umpires were treated with respect and coaches always seemed to say Good Job Blue or Thank You! Even the losing coaches. Im sure there is alot of this that I missed or did not cover. But if you would like to know anything just let me know! Thanks for reading!

Its hard for me to imagine that everyone agrees with me or im not interesting. I know for a fact that some of you guys were with me umpiring so let it all hang out.My goal is only to get better. Either way I would like a response from someone. I dont care if it is positive or negative.

Not Impressed
 

I just found this site, and am really enjoying it. I came across this thread, and found it interesting since I attended the tournament. I must say that I was very unimpressed by the umpiring. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but the umpiring wasn't up to the standards I would have for a "world series" tournament. The judgement of the umpires was terrible, and if anyone even began to question an umpire on a call, they were immediately threatened with ejection. Come on, simply asking questions is a part of the game. In fact, we had one crew that screwed the clock up, and a 1.5 hour game ended up taking over 2.5 hours - and then the umps had the gall to try to blame the coaches! I think the highlight of the week was seeing a plate umpire "entertain" everyone behind the plate every half inning with jokes. I couldn't tell if he wanted to be an umpire or a comedian. (I think he was a better comedian.) Also -- you'all worked 2 man crews. In the ASA nationals I have worked, everything has been 3 man crews. If the NSA wants to be taken seriously, they need to step up their umpire program, because many (not all), but many of the umps they had working this tourney wouldn't have been able to work a ASA state tournament, let alone what was billed as a "world series". Very unimpressed.

NSA Nationals
 

What happened to NEohioref on the NSA Nationals. Did he like what the tournament, or is is going to go back to ASA.

I enjoyed myself . And look forward to going back in the future.I have never umpired A.S.A,only Pony. Im not sure how they pick which umpires go yo the N.S.A nationals. But I did hav ethe chance to go and it was an honor to me. What city/site did this clock error occur. And im sorry if you mis understood me we work 2 men per field on rotation plate,base,off or base,off,plate,base. The off man coming in to the plate.

The clock error occured at Michigan City. The coaches tried to bring it to the plate umpires attention, based on what the coaches had for the start time -- when the problem was brought to the PU's attention, there should have been 5 minutes left in the game. However, something went wrong with the clock, and it had stopped. The PU came over to the fence, looked at the clock, shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the plate. After a 10 minute half-inning, the coach again brought it to the crews attention. This time the BU came over, and said that "someone" must have stopped the clock. He said there was nothing that could be done - started the clock - and the game had 20 minutes to go! It was brought to the UIC's attention, which fell on deaf ears, and the game ended up taking well over 2.5 hours. Sad. When walking off the field, a comment was made to the crew -- and the BU replied that it was the coaches fault the clock stopped. When he was challenged, he went and cried to the UIC, and tried to get the folks that questioned him thrown out of the park. I have never, in my 25 years of softball, seen a group of umpires more scared to have someone question them on the game they are hired to umpire. Again, I'm sure there are some good NSA umps, but I have yet to see one. I sure hope you were ata different site.
And let me clarify that the ASA nationals that I have worked have been true 3 man crews on all of the games....We went one on and one off, but all games were umpired by 3 man crews.

Well guess what I was in Michigan city. And if this is the same situation I know what went down beacuse the umpires did discuss this. The plate umpire was using the base umps timer, On this timer if you do not turn it off after the alloted time it starts counting up.I know exactly who and what you are talking about. I'm not going to throw the coach or the umpire under the bus. Because im not sure who is truely at fault. And the U.I.C backed his umpires desicion on the time. How could he fairly judge how much time is left.If he would have went with what the coaches said, that would have meant he didnt trust his umpires.J.M.H.O

NEohioref -- Well, at least you are able to proivde more information that the crew on the field did. I don't understand where this could be a "trust" situation. The UIC, Umps, and Coaches could have gotten together and got the RIGHT CALL, instead of worrying about egos and backing up Umps. The crew made a mistake, albeit a honest mistake that could be rectified. If the clock starts to could up after it expires, then couldn't it be said that time had officially expired if it was running up instead of down? (Seems common sense to me.) However, the crew did want to discuss it, was annoyed that it was taken to the UIC, and in the end even more damage was done than the original problem. In this case, the crew made the situation worse. As Umps, aren't we taught not to make things worse than they are? So, in reality, the crew made a mistake, made the mistake worse, and the UIC then helped continue making it worse. I guess it comes back to my original observation that I wasn't very impressed with NSA, it's umpires, it's umpire training, or it's UIC. But, thank you for helping me understand what actually happened. If the crew had taken 2 minutes to listen and talk with the coaches, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided. Thanks!

Thanks you sound like somone I can really talk too. With your point being taken about the coaches and the umps coming together. How much time would have been left , or how much time is left ,how many runs scored should be counted. Or just play another full inning and call it quits?what did u want to see? I R A Blue? Indiana Ump?

I wonder if the "comedian umpire" was the same guy I was partnered with a couple of weekends ago. He said he was from the Dayton, OH area which would put him pretty close to Indiana.

He had a running commentary going with players, coaches and fans throughout the entire game. When he did the plate, between innings he would mill around behind the backstop and keep the commentary going with fans in the bleachers.

During one such break, he made his rounds and stopped at every little kid or baby in a stroller, stooped down and gave them a "cootchie-coo" or slapped them a "high five"!

One strange habit he had mechanics-wise was that about half the time he called a strike he would use NO hand signal whatsoever.

Our second game together he worked the bases and this one really takes the cake. The pitcher completed his warm-ups, I get behind the plate and am ready to go...but my base umpire is MIA.

I walk down the first base line to find him and see him rummaging around in the grass behind the dugout. A player had lost his car keys and he was helping him look for them!!! :eek:

NEohioref - Well, I appreciate you speaking openly about what happened. I think it's something we all can learn from, and since we can't change the past -- we only have the future to focus on.
I guess from my perspective if I were in the same situation, I would hope that I would -- have jumped on handling the problem as soon as the time question was asked. (Note that in this case, the crew actually waited an inning to an inning-and-a-half to actually find out what was going on.) Knowing my clock, I would have then gathered the coaches and my fellow ump to explain what happened, and then (depending on who was hitting, the inning, etc.) I would then have formulated what would have been the most fair solution possible. However, simply continuing to play wouldn't be an option....and that's basically what happened. It just appeared that the crew was caught off guard, became very defensive, and didn't want to look bad. Maybe they throught the the UIC could come down on them, heck, I don't know, but the way they handled it was wrong. Communication...communication....communication. They just didn't talk, to each other, the coaches, nothing. Then to make it worse, I think the coaches were afraid to talk with them, (more than the little they did), in fear that they would be ejected since both made it clear that they weren't gonna' "take nothing" from anyone. Again, thanks for the discussion. I know I've learned something from all of this, and I appreacaite your time.

BretMan - His mechanics were "ok"...nothing to write home about, and his zone was a little tight. But, as for his "antics", we might be talking about the same person! I just found it really, really odd and frankly unprofessional the way we was handling himself. And the BU in this crew wasn't much better. I "heard" (yes, I will admit I didn't hear this myself), that the BU openly asked the opposing coach (who was a home-towner), about purchasing some insurance from him during the coin flip. Now, if I'm the other coach, and hear one of the umpires that is about to call a winners bracket semi-final - ask the opposing coach about purchasing some insurance from him....well, let's just say that I'm off to a bad start. These guys might have known each other off-field, but it was really unprofessional to bring it up when he did. I think, for me, it just goes back to a sense that these umpires just didn't take the game seriously. Maybe it was because it was a 12U, but I've worked a ASA 12U national, (a great honor for me), and we treated it like an ASA major tourney. We had fun, but we were there to perform a job and to give the girls the best umpiring we could. I just think that this is one area that NSA needs to hit...and another being positioning and mechanics. But I come from ASA, where these things are stressed already, and maybe NSA doesn't want to do it this way.

JEEzus thats hard to read :p can somone buy you paragraphs??

Honest question: Did this comedian umpire resemble Rick Flair? No, I'm not kidding.

The guy I worked with looked (and acted) more like Flip Wilson.

Sorry all...I will try to make things easier to read. Sometimes my mind works faster than my fingers :)

As for what this guy looked like, he wasn't a Flair....I'd say abour 42, short brown hair, about 5'10". Probably isn't the guy you are thinking of....

http://www.nndb.com/people/788/000030698/ric-flair.jpg
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Good Pun Too

:D :D :D

http://comedycollege.publicradio.org...ilson_flip.gif
The Devil Made Me Do It
:D :D :D

Too funny!

In that picture, Flip is actually demonstrating a better strike signal than this guy had! :D

Only reason why I ask is because there's one umpire in the area who looks an awful lot like Rick Flair (who, coincidentally, is also from this area). Said umpire also calls NSA, and said umpire has been discussed in this thread.

His antics are very similar to the umpire mentioned in this thread.

Without getting to personal or anything. But to say a ump looked and acted like Flip Wilson is a stupid comment. As a African American I can say that there was maybe 7 black umpires at the umpires meeting before the nationals. And they were all mid-aged 50-60. And I was the youngest black guy there at 27. And with me wearing my hair in braids I sure the heck know your not talking about me. So who are you talking about......? Hmmmm..

Are you close to the queen city?

30 miles west of cleveland ohio

Read my post again.

This was an umpire who I worked with (QUOTE) "a couple of weeks ago" (UNQUOTE).

Nowhere did I imply that this was at the NSA tournament being discussed here.

And the guy did look like Flip. And acted like him too. Not that there's anything wrong with that...unless you're in the course of umpiring a softball game and should be acting like an umpire instead of a comedian.

Looks like he is getting ready to demonstrate the old double-fist pump for us.:D

Here come the pump, here come the pump, here come the pump...

In the "credit where credit is due" department, that wasn't one of Flip's routines (the real Flip, not the umpire).

You're thinking of Pigmeat Markham and the catchphrase made famous on "Laugh-In".

Here is a bio:

http://laughstore.stores.yahoo.net/pigmeatmarkham.html

Nope, near Raleigh.

Now that's funny! Some of the best humor around can be found on this board. Flip Wilson demonstrating the old double-fist pump. :D ...Fun at the ole' ball park! .Al

We don't have ASA in the triad but I am always hopeful. I would like to have the constant evaluation and critique as well as the firm standard that ASA ball offers. The closest ASA to the triad is Burlington. A little far but I have gone much farther to do Fed games. GSO used to be ASA but switched to NSA a few years back. I really don't know why.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...etman14/FG.jpg

"Don't you make me call Killer!"

Nope, wasn't thinking of Flip, actually. Just trying to be funny. Sorry I failed.

eject me.

Most of the ball in this area is ASA, with one town that uses USSSA (not sure why, either). Since a lot of the people in this area are very fluid in moving around from Durham to Raleigh to Apex to Cary to Holly Springs, etc., it's nice to have consistent use of one association's rule books. Makes it easier on the players, as well as those of us who want to call some games. I can go to any of these towns and call.

Oh, I thought that was plenty funny! :)

It's just that Markham's story is an interesting one and and your post reminded me of it.

I worked my first NSA tournament this past weekend, and found it to be a good experience over all. The umpires were very well treated, and I feel like on the whole, the crews were as good as the ASA crews around here.

NCASAUmp- Is the Rick Flair look alike from NC and does he do NSA fastpitch? Because if so, I think he was at my tournament this weekend.

Yes and yes. Did he behave himself?

I never really got a chance to speak to him, and we worked on different fields, so I never worked with him or got to see him work.

I do remember a call he made once at an NSA tournament where I was observing.

BR running to first, ball hit hard back to pitcher, who dives, stops the ball, and rolls it to 1st for the out (ball beat runner by several steps). Umpire in question declares runner safe, because you cannot roll a ball to 1st base to make an out.

He got a stern "talking to" by the UIC after that game.

I'll bet you my next paycheck that was him. I honestly don't know why anyone continues to ask him to call games, as he makes stuff up as he goes. He's a thorn in our sides, and makes a mockery of our profession. He's the only umpire that I've told my boss not to put on the same field I'm on.

Further proof that I'm not making this stuff up! ;)

Does anyone besides me think it is unseemly to single out for ongoing criticism on a public board an individual umpire in such a way that he can be identified?

Umpire Criticism
 

I am with you Dakota on this one. I would hope that if I as a Blue go out and have a not so good ball game, that my fellow Blue would not judge my ability. On the flip side of the post. If this Blue makes up calls or rules as he goes, where is his partner that could over rule his calls.I will close by saying that if they continue to just ignore him, and let him continue, they are only hurting the teams

Actually, I have no problem with being judged by my fellow umpires. In fact, I'll ask here about decisions I've made that I thought might not have been correct or the best (see recent threads on CR rule at the plate meeting, and 2 strikes yer out). But, I asked for it. I don't imagine this guy did.

The problem is not that he makes mistakes. The problem is that he, quite obvious to everyone who has dealt with him, just doesn't give a flying flip. He's walked off the field because "it's my birthday." He's made up rules, as I've talked about in other posts (and also mentioned in this thread by another umpire). He provides commentary and criticism on the game as he's calling it, much to the ire and frustration of the players. All the while, he has an air of superiority and arrogance that makes him unapproachable.

And to be honest, I hope he reads this thread, and I will have no problem telling him, "yeah, I posted that, and it's the truth."

Other umpires who have bad games will always have me covering their back. I know I've certainly had my fair share. However, this guy is one umpire whose back I will not have - because I won't work with him. My assignor knows this, and in talking with other umpires in our crew, I'm not the only one. Our assignor is finding that he's only able to put very few people with this guy, and I'm not sure why he keeps him.

Singling out an umpire for bad calls is not a habit of mine, but this guy is just that bad.

I'll be honest, I more or less forgot where I was writing, and felt more like I was having a conversation with NCASAUmp.